Roller skate



2 1 R. WAIVQNER 2,909,375

ROLLER SKATE FiledOcc. 9. 1957 I mv%roa BY ATTORNEYS United States lfatent ROLLER SKATE Robert Warner, Stamford, Conn. Application October9, 1957, Serial No. 689,133 I 3 Claims. (31. 280--11.23)'

The present invention relates to an improved roller skate, andparticularly a roller skate simulating in action and skating techniquethe performance of ice skates, an object of the invention being toprovide a roller skate of sturdy and light construction, and whichapproaches in simplicity the simple structure of a conventional iceskate.

A further object is to provide a roller skate which may be braked byaslight tilting of the skate, either forwardly or rearwardly dependingupon the preference of the skater, to thus lend to the versatility ofthe skater in performing intricate maneuvers such as in'figure skating.

Another object is to provide a roller skate in which the rollers may bein .the form of a ball bearing unit of conventional commercial design,and further to provide.

mounting means for the rollers, which will enable them to be readilyreplaced.

A still further object is to provide improved attaching means forsecuring the skate to the heel of a shoe, and whereby the skate may bequickly attachedor removed, and will be reliably and firmly held uponthe shoe heel when the skate is in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent froma consideration of the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing wherein a satisfactoryembodiment of the invention is shown. However, it will be understoodthat the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includesall such variations and modifications as fall within the spiritof theinvention and the scope of the appended claims. T

In the drawing: 7

Fig. 1 is a-side elevation of a roller skate according to one embodimentof the invention, the same being shown attached to a shoe;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan 'view of the skate removed from the shoe;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section view, taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary top plan view of the heel portion of the skate;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view, taken along the line 5-5 of Fig.1, and showing thepart of the heel 1zjtlttalching means secured to theunderside of the shoe Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a modified form ofthe invention provided with a single roller;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of the skate shown in Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1-5, theroller skate, according to the exemplary embodiment of the inventionshown therein, comprises a skate frame 10 consisting of a straight barportion 11 extending for the greater portion of the length of the skateand preferably of substantially square cross-section, the forward end ofthe bar portion 11 being continuous with an upwardly curved forward barportion 12, the flat upper end of which is secured by a screw 13 to atoe sup- "ice upwardly from the bar portion 11, these portions being ofsubstantially semi-circular shape in outline, andrespectively providedcentrally of their upper ends with integral upstanding lugs 17 and 18.The upper ends of these lugs are flat and in the same horizontal planewith the upper end of the forward curved bar portion 12, the lug 17being secured to the toe plate -14 adjacent its rearward end by a screw19, and the lug '18 being secured to a heel plate 20 by a screw 21.

The roller housing portions 15 and 16 are each pro-- vided with a recess22 extending upwardly from the bottom of the bar portion 11 within whicha roller 23 is ro-- tatably supported upon a cross pin 24. As shown inFig 3, the roller is in the form of a ball bearing unit consisting ofinner and outer ball races 25 and 26 and anti-friction balls 27therebetween, the inner race being mounted.-

upon a bushing 28 which projects slightly beyond thesides of the rollerwith its ends in engagement with the side walls of the recess 22. Thecross pin 24 is engaged? through holes 29 and 30 in the side walls ofthe recess: and through the bushing, and is secured against axiahmovement by a head 31 at one end and by a horse-shoe shaped retainerwasher 32 engaged in a groove 33 at the other end. The tread surface ofthe roller may consist of the metallic outer ball race 26, butpreferably it is with respect to the forward and rearward rollers issuch that, by a slight tilting action of the skate, either the surfaceof the bar portion forwardly or rearwardly of the rollers may be broughtin engagement with the ground, thus elfecting a braking action. Thedegree of tilting of the skate for this purpose is indicated by thebroken lines 35 and 36 in Fig. 1.

The toe'plate 14 and the heel plate 20 may if desired be permanentlyscrewed or riveted to the sole of the shoe and for this purpose areprovided with suitably placed screw or rivet holes 37. In the case ofthe skate being removably attached to the shoe, improved means are provided for securing the heel plate to the shoe heel. This comprises atransversely disposed T-shaped lug 38 secured in the heel plate 20, asby staking the same as at 39, and which is adapted to be interlockedwith a plate 40 secured by screws 41 in a recess 42 in the under-surfaceof the heel 43 of the shoe 44. A slot 45 is provided in the plateextending longitudinally of the shoe heel, its dimensions being suchthat the transverse cross-piece of the T-lug 38 may be engaged therewithwith the shoe heel turned with respect to the skate. A clearance pocket46, preferably circular, is formed in the shoe heel in line with theslot 45 to receive the cross-piece of the T- lug and to permit the shoeheel to be turned 90 to bring the T-lug into right angular relation tothe slot, as shown in Fig. 5, thus locking the shoe heel to the skate.The plate 40 is provided with inwardly projected bosses or lugs 47 and48 which act as stops for engagement by the T-lug, so that with the shoeheld against turning movement the stop lugs prevent forward or rearwardmovement.

The toe of the shoe may be secured to the toe plate Patented Oct. 20,1959" 13 by any suitable conventional means, and in Fig. 1 the meansshown is a toe strap 49 provided with a fastening buckle 50 and havingits ends secured in slotted lugs 51 and 52 provided at the sides of thetoe plate.

In Figs. 6 and 7 there is illustrated a modified, form of the inventionin which the skate is provided with a single centrally positionedroller. The skate frame 53 comprises a straight bar portion 54 extendingfor the greater portion of the length of the skate, its forward andrearward ends being continuous with upwardly. curved Centrally of thebar portion 12 there is provided an integral roller housing andsupporting portion 63 provided at its upper end with an integralupstandinglug 64a having its upper end in the same horizontal plane withthe upper ends of the forward and rearward bar portions 55 and 56 andsecured by a screw 65a to the top plate. The roller assembly isidentical with the roller assemblies of the embodiment of the inventionshown in Figs. 1-5, and for convenience the corresponding parts aregiven the same reference characters, the roller 23 being mounted upon across pin 24 in a recess 22 in the housing 63.

The top plate is provided at the sides of the toe plate portion 60 withslotted lugs 64 and 65 for attachment of a toe strap and the heel plateportion 61 is provided witha T-lug 66 similar to the T-lug 38 of thefirst embodiment for interlocking with the shoe heel.

As in the first embodiment, the projection ofthe roller below the barportion 54 is of a relatively small'order so that the bar portion isrelatively close to the ground, and by a slight forward or rearwardtilting of the skate, the forward or rearward ends of the bar portionmaybe brought into engagement with the ground to effect a brakingaction.

I claim:

1. In a skate, a single one piece elongated frame member comprising ahorizontal bar portion straight for the greater part of the length ofsaid frame, an upwardly curved forward bar portion continuous with saidstraight bar portion providing a forward ground engaging brakingsurface, a rearwardly extending bar portion continuous with saidstraight bar portion providing a rear groundengaging braking surface,and a pair of longitudinally spaced roller housing portions integralwith and extending upwardly from said horizontal bar portion, eachhaving a roller receiving recess extending upwardly from the lower sideof the horizontal bar portion enclosed at the top and opposite sides bytop and side walls, one of said roller housing portions being positionedrearwardly of and adjacent said forward bar portion and the other beingpositioned forwardly of and adjacent the rearward end of said horizontalbar portion, a pair of roller supporting pins positioned and supportedin said side walls respectively extending transversely across saidrecess of each of said roller housing portions, a roller mounted on eachof said pins and projecting a short distance only below the lower sideof said horizontal bar portion, and shoe sole engaging top plate meanssecured to the upper ends of said forward bar portion and said rollerhousing portions.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, further characterized by a T-lugcarried by said top plate, and a plate member for securing to a shoeheel, said plate member having a slot engageable by said T-lug andadapted to be interlocked through turning of said plate to bring saidslot into transverse relation to said T-lug and provided with stop lugsat opposite sides of said lug to prevent longitudinal sliding of the lugin the slot.

3. In a skate, a single one piece elongated frame member comprising ahorizontal bar portion straight for the greater part of the length ofsaid plate, upwardly curved forward and rearward bar portions continuouswith said straight bar portion at the opposite ends thereof providingforward and rear ground engaging braking surfaces, and a roller housingportion centrally between said forward and rearward bar portionscomprising top and side walls integral with and extending upwardly fromsaid horizontal bar portion providing a roller recess extending upwardsfrom the lower side of said horizontal bar portion, a roller supportingpin supported in said side walls and extending transversely across saidrecess, a roller mounted on said pin and projecting a short distanceonly below the lower side of said horizontal bar portion, and shoe soleengaging top plate means secured to the upper ends of said forward andrearward bar portions and said roller housing portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS324,115 James Aug. 11, 1885 2,220,557 User Nov. 5, 1940 2,559,118 ForanJuly 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 96,483 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1922 379,663Germany Aug. 27, 1923 621,858 Great Britain Apr. 21, 1949

